Goodbye Red light cams... Hello to...

[Silk]

We don't have many red light cameras, doesn't seem to be much of an issue here. There are fixed speed cameras in Auckland, we all know where they are....and there is only one camera, they shift it between locations - but I've still been hit by them! Random cameras on the open road, usually rural are just like a cop with a radar, but cheaper. They are either unmanned, or have someone on a lower wage than a cop to spend the time doing nothing....I guess the fines pay their wage.

I might get another one after yesterdays encounter....

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Trajan
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
They still have to prove it was YOU driving the car.

So they will need to get a photo of the driver if possible.



No they don't. They got the plate. All they need.


Been lost in Oz...the owner of the car gets a ticket. Unless they nominate who was driving the vehicle at the time, they are liable for it. (A judge spent a couple of years using a deceased overseas friend as a proxy, and got away with it for ages).

As to photographing your face, that stopped when prominent people started getting photographed with their affair in the passenger seat...now it's plates and vehicle only.


I went through an EZPass one night, and the camera got the plate. (No I don't have EZPass). All they need is the license plate, (In Pennsylvania, you only have a plate on the back.)

 

[anndel]

We had red light cams here in Downtown Honolulu at one of the busiest intersections in town - Punchbowl and Beretania Streets. There was an increase in rear-end accidents at that time.

 

[95busa]

I think one day this is going to become an issue in court when someone with the money to pay a lawyer $200 an hour on principle alone gets one of these tickets. Legally, one has to prove that the SUSPECT (a vehicle is not a suspect), beyond a reasonable doubt with specific intent, general intent, or through negligence committed the crime in question. If they get a picture of you, fine, but all of this "responsible for the vehicle that is registered to you" is [censored]. If your neighbor borrows your vehicle because his is broken, runs a kid over and flees the scene, are you arrested, charged and convicted, case closed because the vehicle is registered to you? Of course not. The whole concept is ridiculous!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I've heard i rural areas of europe that citizens place an old tire around the speed cameras and ignite them.

http://english.controleradar.org/burning-gatso.php

I always thought a telescopic stick, with a sock covered in vaseline would do the trick of blurring the lens.

If we still had brave Americans, those cameras would all be spray-painted (or Vaselined as you suggest) the week they went up. Speed bumps would get pried up and tossed, too.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I've heard i rural areas of europe that citizens place an old tire around the speed cameras and ignite them.

http://english.controleradar.org/burning-gatso.php

I always thought a telescopic stick, with a sock covered in vaseline would do the trick of blurring the lens.

If we still had brave Americans, those cameras would all be spray-painted (or Vaselined as you suggest) the week they went up. Speed bumps would get pried up and tossed, too.


Forget spray paint. High-velocity rifle rounds are MUCH more effective!

I don't mind speed bumps...I can sail over them at 35MPH in my Caddy.

 

[Cujet]

Made me think of the brits and the burning tyres on the speed cams!

 

[Cujet]

In the United States, you have the right to face your accuser in court. In this case, you have not been witnessed committing a crime. Not by the cops, and not by anybody else with relevant and certified data.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Originally Posted By: bvance554

... I got a Christmas card from the District of Columbia a few weeks ago. 61 in a 50 ... It is simple revenue collection.


It might be "revenue collection" once you get caught, but I hate to point out the obvious - you were clearly breaking the law and the tolerance was very generous. Don't we hear a lot about taking personal responsibility for your actions on this board?

 

[spasm3]

What happens if you don't pay the fine, are summoned to court and proceed to ask questions ( like you would an officer) What were the conditons that day, what is the angle of the camera and radar to the car? When was the last certification done? How does the radar distinguish between 2 cars side by side? How will the camera ( who is not present) asnswer the questions? Are you not able to face your accuser? Would they have to dismiss this?

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
What happens if you don't pay the fine, are summoned to court and proceed to ask questions ( like you would an officer) What were the conditons that day, what is the angle of the camera and radar to the car? When was the last certification done? How does the radar distinguish between 2 cars side by side? How will the camera ( who is not present) asnswer the questions? Are you not able to face your accuser? Would they have to dismiss this?


None of this. They turn it over to a collection agency, who then wreaks havoc upon your credit rating.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Originally Posted By: Silk
We don't have many red light cameras (in NZ,) doesn't seem to be much of an issue here.
When San Diego introduced red light cams two decades ago my buddy was a tech with that company and I got the full inside scoop.

Aside from catching those who purposely run the reds, the cameras highlight intersection design problems including yellow timing. If I recall one camera was catching 60,000 a month because the yellow was slightly too short for the traffic speed. At $300 a ticket it took them a long time to fix that one and half a second more yellow dropped it to a fraction of that 60k.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I've heard i rural areas of europe that citizens place an old tire around the speed cameras and ignite them.

http://english.controleradar.org/burning-gatso.php


If guns were easy enough to get in Europe, they would shoot them instead of burning them.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Kiwi_ME
Originally Posted By: Silk
We don't have many red light cameras (in NZ,) doesn't seem to be much of an issue here.
When San Diego introduced red light cams two decades ago my buddy was a tech with that company and I got the full inside scoop.

Aside from catching those who purposely run the reds, the cameras highlight intersection design problems including yellow timing. If I recall one camera was catching 60,000 a month because the yellow was slightly too short for the traffic speed. At $300 a ticket it took them a long time to fix that one and half a second more yellow dropped it to a fraction of that 60k.


The traffic light hasn't changed in over half a century and I think it's time. A timer, a longer yellow or a blinking green before the yellow would give drivers more time to prepare to stop. When I drive in the city here, I always glance over to see the timer on the crosswalk as I approach an intersection so I know if I need to start braking, hit the gas or keep coasting.

 

[SevenBizzos]

$,$,and $. The three things that drive the explosion of monitoring devices on highways.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Originally Posted By: Kiwi_ME
...because the yellow was slightly too short for the traffic speed...

Here's a document pertaining to that case.

http://www.hwysafety.com/hwy_redlight_orwell.htm

Quote:
It appears that the red light camera program in San Diego is nothing more than a modern day, computerized version of the age–old law enforcement technique known as "sitting–in" where police officers seized on poor traffic engineering practices to ensure high citation rates.


Quote:
7. After installation of the cameras, subsequent time increases in the relevant yellow light phase at various intersections caused the number of alleged violations to drop by more than 94% at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Mission Bay Drive where the yellow light was increased from 3.0 seconds to 4.7 seconds.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: dishdude


The traffic light hasn't changed in over half a century and I think it's time. A timer, a longer yellow or a blinking green before the yellow would give drivers more time to prepare to stop. When I drive in the city here, I always glance over to see the timer on the crosswalk as I approach an intersection so I know if I need to start braking, hit the gas or keep coasting.


When I was very small I remember a few old traffic lights around that worked like this:

Green
Green & yellow for a couple seconds
Yellow
Yellow & red for a couple seconds
Red

If safety is the concern why not return to this?

John

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: Kiwi_ME
Originally Posted By: bvance554

... I got a Christmas card from the District of Columbia a few weeks ago. 61 in a 50 ... It is simple revenue collection.


It might be "revenue collection" once you get caught, but I hate to point out the obvious - you were clearly breaking the law and the tolerance was very generous. Don't we hear a lot about taking personal responsibility for your actions on this board?


Not denying I was in violation of the posted speed limit.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: John_K
Originally Posted By: dishdude


The traffic light hasn't changed in over half a century and I think it's time. A timer, a longer yellow or a blinking green before the yellow would give drivers more time to prepare to stop. When I drive in the city here, I always glance over to see the timer on the crosswalk as I approach an intersection so I know if I need to start braking, hit the gas or keep coasting.


When I was very small I remember a few old traffic lights around that worked like this:

Green
Green & yellow for a couple seconds
Yellow
Yellow & red for a couple seconds
Red

If safety is the concern why not return to this?

John


In our highly technical world, that solution would work perfectly. Most people would understand it instantly, and those who did not, would take an additional day to "get it".

 

[SteveSRT8]

In our area there are many crossing lights that have timers on them to count down for pedestrians.

Most of these intersections lights turn yellow as the counter hits zero. It's a great thing if your vision is keen to check the timer to help judge if you'll need to stop or can sail on...